Jul. 19--Emergency shelters were set up Sunday morning to provide a cool respite for those who might have still been without power after Saturday's wind storm.

It was a precaution that no one apparently needed.

Crews for Arizona Public Service Co. had scrambled to get people back on the grid and by 2 a.m. all customers had their power restored, said Dan Wool, a spokesman for the utility.

At the peak of the storm at about 4:27 p.m. Saturday, winds of up to 54 mph were registered at Marine Corps Station Yuma, said Jaret Rogers, a meteorologist with the Natural Weather Service in Phoenix.

He said the dust storm was caused by the collapse of a strong thunderstorm complex about 60 miles southeast of Yuma. That put down strong winds that in turn picked up dust. The resulting storm spread toward the west, striking much of Yuma County.

The storm also brought one-tenth of inch of rain, a record for the day, Rogers said.

According to satellite images, he said, "at this time we don't see a repeat."

Mike Erfert, spokesman for the Yuma Fire Department, said Saturday's storm broke tree limbs and blew some metal sheds around. However, he didn't see any serious damage when he drove around.

The biggest problem was the loss of power to some areas, he said.

Wool said that at the peak of the storm, 5,200 customers were without power. Main causes of the outages were downed wires and tree limbs falling on wires. There were no downed poles.

By 8 p.m. Saturday, 90 percent of the affected customers had their power restored and the remainder by 2 a.m., Wool said.

Erfert said that in the event that power wasn't restored by Sunday, YFD and the American Red Cross had arranged for sites where residents could go to avoid the heat of the day. However, by 3 p.m., no calls had been received.

"We were ready," Erfert sad. "Fortunately, they weren't necessary. All things considered, it was a pretty serious storm but we seemed to come through it pretty good. APS really got after the issues quickly."

The storm serves as a reminder that people should have an emergency plan in place, Erfert said. They should have arrangements with family or friends they can stay with if they lose power. That's particularly critical this time of year with the extreme heat, he added.

"Hurricanes and tornados get a lot of attention," he said. "But realistically, in Yuma in the summer a power outage is a huge issue."

Linda Scott, who resides in a mobile home at Pacific Avenue and 24th Street, said she's seen worse storms, but the one Saturday was bad enough.

She said she was asleep when she heard a loud noise, then her mother called to say she couldn't see anything for the blowing dust.

Scott said the awning on a nearby house blew off and hit the house two doors down.

According to her thermometer, the temperature dropped about 14 degrees and her neighborhood got hit with a cloudburst for a few minutes.

"There was damage," she said. "There is quite a bit of debris ... tree limbs, little decorations and shingles. This storm moved so fast and stayed."

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